


He Sleeps Alone (He Needs No Army)

by reversustenebris



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Fluff, I wanted to keep it fluffy because I want to do angst later, Kinda, Sad if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-03-18
Packaged: 2019-11-23 08:56:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18149762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reversustenebris/pseuds/reversustenebris
Summary: Five has some trouble sleeping after getting back from the apocalypse. After all, it's a pretty big change after sleeping somewhere new for 40 years. It gets weird.





	He Sleeps Alone (He Needs No Army)

Five is sick of his old bed, the freshly washed sheets constricting him with a comfort he hasn’t known in 45 years. In theory, the bed should be a blessing, a refuge for him when predictably gets sick of his siblings’ shit and stalks off to some goddamn peace and quiet. In reality, the bed makes him more uncomfortable than the rest of the house, cold and unfamiliar and lonely, even with Delores. 

Every time he lays down, he’s forced to confront all the years he missed in this bed. Sitting at the foot of the bed, sandwiches in hand, as he and Vanya chat about all the mundane things he used to care about before life whacked him over the head with heartbreak and responsibility. Hiding under the covers as he sneaks snacks with Klaus and Ben on a rare evening where he’s in a good mood. Not pushing away Mom’s hand as she gently runs her fingers through his hair as he drifts into a fitful sleep after he catches the cold that his siblings passed through the house.

His bed feels like empty promises and missed history, and as he walks into his room after a long day of conspiring, he grimaces at the sight of it. He’s exhausted, and frankly quite miserable, and he falls into bed, not bothering to change or even take his shoes off. He curls up in on himself, and as his eyelids slide closed, he feels the familiar warp of teleportation before he passes out, too tired to bring himself to care.

\---

Klaus doesn’t know what that sound is, but it’s driving him insane. A soft ringing noise, like a wine glass being hit, echoing through the empty hallways that lead to their rooms. He’s been hearing it ever since he woke up for the fifth time that night, yet another nightmare, though a comparatively minor one. He lets out a dramatic groan to the empty room, slamming his head back against the wall and closing his eyes. The sound continues.

“What now?” He hears Ben say. Not-so-empty room after all.

“It’s that sound! It’s just so… infuriating!” Klaus grumbles, opening his eyes to see Ben sitting on his desk, looking as disinterested as usual.

“That’s what’s bothering you? I’ve seen you sleep through fire alarms,” Ben starts as Klaus begins to nod in agreement, “You were high off your ass, though.” Klaus stops nodding and weakly throws a pillow at Ben in retaliation, which goes right through him and hits the wall, knocking off one of the poorly-taped posters.

“I,” Klaus begins as he throws himself out of bed, “Am going to go investigate.”

“You have fun with that.” Ben says as if he isn’t just as curious.

Klaus shuffles down the hallway, skimming his fingers along the wall as he walks and makes grand sweeps of his head, making a show of looking for the source of the noise. When he decides it’s further down the hall he continues his journey into the entry. The sound is louder in here, but after a cursory glance, Klaus determines it’s not coming from in here either.

“Oh my God,” Ben breathes out from behind him. Klaus turns to see Ben pointing up, and he follows his concerned gaze.

“Oh my God,” Klaus echoes before he’s overcome with giggles.

Five is draped over the chandelier, his small form tucked between the metal frame and the bulbs. The chandelier is rocking back and forth in a steady rhythm, and Five’s soft snores are drowned out by the sound of the dangling glass ornaments of the chandelier colliding together as it moves. 

“That’s adorable!” Klaus exclaims, louder than he should have. 

Five’s eyes shoot open at the sound and his body leans forward as he frantically looks around. The chandelier begins to rock faster, and Five’s arms shoot out with an uncharacteristic look of panic before he’s surrounded with a blue light, reappearing in a heap on the carpet in front of Klaus. 

Klaus stifles his giggles as he leans over to offer his hand to Five, who shoves it away and stands up, brushing himself off. He glares at Klaus’ outstretched hand.

“You saw nothing.” He hisses, before he’s gone again, presumably back in his room.

\---

Diego is kneeling on the floor, absently polishing his knives as his mind wanders, when his radio crackles and comes to life, static chatter filling the room. Something about an assault at a coffee shop. Nothing big, but it’s right down the street, and he’s truly got nothing to do. He carefully puts his knives into their proper spot on his harness before swinging out to the fire escape, making his way down the stairs, careful not to slip on the rain that’s pooled on the metal. He makes it a quarter of the way down when he runs into something that’s decidedly not metal, almost tripping in the process. 

“Shit!” he exclaims, looking down to see a pair of rain-soaked shoes blocking the stairs. Their owner is none other than Five, who is passed out against the railing. His head is resting on Delores, and a discarded cup of coffee stands next to an empty hand. Diego leans over to investigate, careful not to disturb Five any further. To be completely honest, Diego is scared of that kid. 

The cup of coffee is still warm and it’s still completely full, give or take a few sips. In Five’s other hand, a thankfully clean knife is slipping out of his fingers. Five is ruffled-looking and soaking wet from the rain dripping from the stairs above, though he’s thankfully sheltered from the current downpour. Diego straightens up and takes a step back before nudging Five’s foot. When Five doesn’t respond, he does it again. Five scrambles awake, on his feet before Diego can even blink, with Delores tucked protectively behind him, the knife to Diego’s throat, and his teeth bared.

“Woah there,” Diego says, gently lifting up a hand and pushing away Five’s arm. He looks down at him when the knife is away from his throat, and Five has settled just a little, though the fear in his eyes doesn’t go unnoticed by Diego. “What are you doing out here?”

“Went out for some coffee,” Five mumbles, picking up his cup from the ground and knocking back half of it. “Had some complications. Got tired.”

Diego begins to understand the coffee shop assault he heard about over the radio. “So you fell asleep on the fire escape?”

“So I did.” Five says, but he looks troubled at his own answer. Diego can tell he’s leaving out some information, but he knows pushing it won’t get him anywhere with Five. 

Diego gives him the courtesy of dropping it. He turns away and starts to head down the stairs. “Change into some dry clothes.” He says in passing, but judging on the sudden quiet behind him, he knows Five is already gone.

\---

Allison isn’t quite sure what she’s looking for, but if she really thought about it, she would realize she was looking for a distraction. Sure, she’s getting her voice back, but it’s a long process. A lonely one. Her siblings aren’t very interested in communicating with a piece of paper, and so she’s stuck to wander the house’s library instead, trying to find something to get her out of the silent monotony her life has turned to. 

She’s staring down at the book in her hands, reading the same page for the fourth time, when she hears a thump and a hissed curse from up above her. Her head jerks up and she sees Five, crammed into one of the empty bookshelves. He’s rubbing his forehead and glaring at the wood above him, and when he senses that she’s there, that glare gets focused at her.

“What are you doing?” He says, words laced with annoyance.

“I could ask you the same thing.” Allison whispers, taking a step back as Five wiggles his way off the shelf and onto the floor, landing against the wood with a soft thump. He stands up and makes a point of straightening out his clothes, not making eye contact. 

“I was sleeping.” Five says matter-of-factly, as if he wasn’t just sleeping in the middle of the library. “I don’t see why it’s any of your business.”

Allison knows she’s already lost this fight. She doesn’t have the energy to argue with him, to be honest. “I guess it isn’t.” She says sharply. Five squints at her tone, but decides to drop it and turns around, grabbing a random book of the shelf and walking out of the room. Allison stares after him, already planning a family meeting.

\---

Vanya shuffles into her apartment, closing the door behind her before flopping down onto the couch, face in her arms. It’s been a long day, and all she wants to do is make some dinner and go to bed, maybe read something new. It’s been a while since she’s done that. 

After staring at nothing for a few minutes, she heaves herself up and into the kitchen, letting out a screech when she sees a figure draped across her countertop. She grabs the largest knife she can find and creeps her way over the the figure, and by the time she sees the familiar face, Five is already awake, sitting up and backing up against the cabinets, eyeing down the knife.

“No!” he shrieks, voice cracking. He teleports behind her, looking lost and afraid and nothing like himself, and he’s already running out the door. 

Vanya quickly puts down the knife and follows him, arms outstretched. “Five! It’s just Vanya, you’re okay!” she calls out as he pulls the door open and sprints down the stairs. She hears the thumping of his feet as he runs out of the building, and she sighs in resignation. He’s always been faster than her, even without the teleporting, and she knows he will make it home.

\---

It’s a Saturday and they’re all lazing around the house, not sure what to do with themselves, now that they have no apocalypse to stop. Allison decides now is the best time to get the family meeting over with, and she and Luther gather everyone in the kitchen. Well, almost everyone.

“Where’s Five?” Allison asks, voice full of as much strength as she can muster.

Klaus shrugs, prepared to zone out of yet another family meeting he doesn’t care about, when he hears Ben give a pointed cough. He scans the room and finds Ben leaning against the fridge, head tilted up, and sure enough, Five is sprawled out on top of it. “Behind you?”

All of their eyes drift to the fridge, and Allison huffs before going over and tugging on Five’s arm. He jolts awake, rolling back towards the wall and as far away from them as possible, looking like a cornered animal. His chest heaves with shaking breaths for what feels like hours before his eyes fill with recognition and he slowly climbs down from the fridge, taking his place at the table while he tries to ignore the confused stares of his siblings.

“What is going on with you, Five?” Vanya starts, “You’re acting weird.”

“He’s always acting weird.” Luther says, earning a swat on the arm from Allison.

“It’s different this time,” Diego says, “I found him asleep on the fire escape.”

“I found him on a bookshelf.” Allison whispers. 

“I found him on my kitchen counter.” Vanya adds.

Klaus barks out a laugh. “I’ve got you all beat! I found him on the chandelier!” 

At that, Five finally begins to look as sheepish as he can, and he stares down at the silverware set in front of him. “I’m fine.” He says through gritted teeth.

“You don’t sound fine to me.” Diego says, giving him a look.

“I’m. Fine.” Five repeats, moving to teleport away from the table before Vanya puts a hand on his shoulder, anchoring him down. Five starts to blanche, feeling stuck, and his resolve starts to crumble. “I…”

“You have a bed, you know.” Allison says softly from his other side.

“It doesn’t feel like mine,” Five says softly. “When I was in the apocalypse, I could never sleep low. Everything was ashes and cockroaches and I always felt that something, Lord knows what, was going to get me. I started sleeping higher and higher and higher because I always felt so unsafe on the ground. In the apocalypse, if you’re comfortable, it means something is wrong.”

All of his siblings exchange a look. This is the most vulnerable Five has ever been around them since they were all thirteen, and they all know it’s barely scratching the surface of his issues.

“Well,” Luther begins, but Five cuts him off by standing up abruptly.

“Nevermind this,” Five says, making his way out the door. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll get over it.” He says, voice trailing off down the hallway. 

When they found him asleep on the bar that evening, they all knew that was a lie.

“I have an idea,” Klaus says in a stage whisper.

\---

Five audibly scoffs when he walks into his room that evening, long after he had been woken up from his unplanned nap. Everything has been rearranged, and most notably, his bed has been replaced with a bunk bed, his desk tucked underneath. 

“This is ridiculous!” He shouts into the house, directed at nobody, as he clambers up the ladder and cautiously tucks himself into bed. He surveys the room, satisfied at his new height advantage, and settles, more comfortable than he’s been in a long time.

Not long after, his door creaks open, and all of his siblings cautiously stick their heads into his room.

“It worked!” Klaus whisper-screams. “Diego, get the camera!”

**Author's Note:**

> This ending is cheesy but I wanted to save the angst for later.


End file.
